ai4bharat/Pralekha huggingface dataset:
Prime Minister's Office
PM to participate in Buddha Jayanti Celebrations in New Delhi tomorrow
On the occasion of Buddha Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will join the celebrations at Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium, in the Capital on Monday, 30th April, 2018.
He will offer Sangh Dana. He will also present the Vaishakh Sammaan Prashasti Patra to the Central Institute of Higher Tibetan Studies, Sarnath; and the All India Bhikshu Sangha, Bodh Gaya. He will address the gathering.
Ministry of Science & Technology
DST INSPIRE Faculty Fellow uncovers regulatory role of proteins in neuronal development, paving way for modifying treatment protocols
Priyanka Dutta, Inspire Faculty Fellow, has recently uncovered the mechanism by which a protein called Formin-2 disrupts neural connectivity and could result in developmental defects associated with intellectual disability and deficits in learning and memory.
Establishment of a functional neuronal circuit is essential for proper functioning of the nervous system. To understand the neuronal coordination of an organism, it is important to comprehend how the underlying cytoskeleton or the complex network of interlinking protein filaments in the cytoplasm of cells assemble and function assisted by its regulatory proteins. The errors in neuronal connectivity are central to genetic mutations of these proteins, which lead to detrimental developmental defects.
Dr. Dutta from the National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, a recipient of the INSPIRE Faculty fellowship instituted by the Department of Science & Technology, GoI, focuses on understanding the mechanical function of the cytoskeletal proteins involved in neuro-developmental disorder. This understanding of neurobiological mechanism of the disorder can help to modify the treatment protocol to minimise the symptoms of the disease.
Her recent study has tracked the role of Formin-2 in regulating how the microtubules or actin filaments in the cytoskeleton that are responsible for cellular reorganization and chromosome separation dynamically organize themselves. The team has identified that Formin-2 cross-links actin-microtubule to form polymers in neurons with the help of its C-terminal FSI tail. This mechanism might have important implications for understanding underlying neuro-developmental conditions, such as intellectual disability, that have been linked to mutations in Formin-2. This research has been published in the ‘Journal of Cell Science’.
Priyanka Dutta explained that her proposed project as an INSPIRE Faculty fellow involves understanding the regulatory roles of Formin-2 in neuronal development. The output from this project will be a bedrock for prospective research which will explore how cytoskeleton regulators communicate with other signaling molecules along with actin and microtubule to distinguish between the normal and abnormal states before the onset of neuronal diseases.
Publication details:
Kundu T, Dutta P, Nagar D, Maiti S, Ghose A. . Coupling of dynamic microtubules to Factin by Fmn2 regulates chemotaxis of neuronal growth cones. [equal contribution] J Cell Sci, 10.1242/jcs.252916 .
Burada AP, Vinnakota R, Bharti P, Dutta P, Dubey N, Kumar J. . Emerging Insights into the Structure and Function of Ionotropic GluD Receptors. Review Article. British Journal of Pharmacology. https://doi.org/10.1111/bph.15313
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Fig: Priyanka Dutta working in her lab
For more details, Priyanka Dutta  can be contacted
Prime Minister's Office
PM greets people of Rajasthan on Rajasthan Diwas
The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has extended greetings to the people of Rajasthan on Rajasthan Diwas.
In a tweet, the Prime Minister said;
"शौर्य, स्वाभिमान और बलिदान की ऐतिहासिक धरती राजस्थान के समस्त निवासियों को राजस्थान दिवस की कोटि-कोटि शुभकामनाएं। प्रदेश प्रगति के पथ पर आगे बढ़े, यही कामना है।"
Ministry of Defence
Defence Secretary co-chairs India-UK Defence Consultative Group  meeting
Defence Secretary Dr Ajay Kumar co-chaired the India-UK Defence Consultative Group  meeting with his counterpart Mr David Williams, UK Permanent Under Secretary of State for Defence in London on 03 October, 2022. They reviewed the progress of various Service level bilateral groups and other defence cooperation mechanisms.
Dr Ajay Kumar held discussion on wide range of issues relating to the defence and industrial cooperation between India and UK. Both sides considered new areas for defence industrial cooperation, explored emerging domains such as cyber and Artificial Intelligence, and committed to work together for strengthening the bilateral defence relationship.
Later, Defence Secretary also held a bilateral meeting with UK NSA Sir Tim Barrow. They discussed a number of key defence and security issues.
ABB/GC
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Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
India reaches another record of highest single day recoveries
57,381 recover in the last 24 hours
32 States & UTs report higher than 50% Recovery Rate
India tests highest single day COVID samples of 8.6 lakh
On a continuous path of registering high single day recoveries, India has touched another peak of posting the highest recoveries of COVID-19 cases in a single day. 57,381 have recovered and discharged in the past 24 hours.
With such high level of recoveries, India's Recovery Rate has soared past 70% ensuring more and more patients are recovering. To further build on this achievement, 32 States/UTs have exceeded the 50% mark. 12 States/UTs have exceeded the national Recovery Rate.
With more patients recovering and being discharged from hospitals and home isolation , the total recoveries have crossed the 18 lakh mark today . The gap between recovered patients and active COVID-19 cases has increased and crossed 11 lakh .
This is a result of coordinated efforts of the Centre and State/UT governments which has led to a continuous increase in average daily recoveries.
The current active cases  compose the actual case load of the country. It is 26.45% of the total positive cases today, registering further drop in the last 24 hours. They are under active medical supervision.
Focus on improved and effective clinical treatment in hospitals, supervised home isolation, use of non-invasive oxygen support, improved services of the ambulances for ferrying patients for prompt and timely treatment, upgradation of clinical management skills of doctors treating COVID-19 patients by active technical guidance through tele-consultation sessions of AIIMS, New Delhi etc., have in tandem resulted in seamless efficient patient management. This has ensured that India’s Case Fatality Rate  is maintained below the global average. It is on a continuous positive slide and currently stands at 1.94%.
India's TEST, TRACK, TREAT strategy has achieved another peak with 8,68,679 tests done in the last 24 hours. This has taken the cumulative tests to more than 2.85 crore.
The graded and evolving response has resulted in a testing strategy that steadily widened the testing net in the country. To keep up with this strategy, the testing lab network in the country is continuously strengthened which as on today consists of 1465 labs in the country; 968 labs in the government sector and 497 private labs. These include:
• Real-Time RT PCR based testing labs: 751 
• TrueNat based testing labs: 597 
• CBNAAT based testing labs: 117 
For all authentic & updated information on COVID-19 related technical issues, guidelines & advisories please regularly visit: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/ and @MoHFW_INDIA.
Technical queries related to COVID-19 may be sent to technicalquery.covid19[at]gov[dot]in and other queries on ncov2019[at]gov[dot]in and @CovidIndiaSeva .
In case of any queries on COVID-19, please call at the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare helpline no.: +91-11-23978046 or 1075 . List of helpline numbers of States/UTs on COVID-19 is also available at https://www.mohfw.gov.in/pdf/coronvavirushelplinenumber.pdf.
Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment
Government files Review Petition on Supreme Court judgement of 5thMay, 2021 pertaining to Constitution 102nd Amendment Act, 2018
The Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court has pronounced Judgement dated 5.5.2021 in the matter of Writ Petition NO.938 of 2020 Shri Shiv Sangram V/s Union of India and other various Civil Appeals involving interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution 102nd Amendment Act,2018.
As provided in the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, a Review Petition for review of the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court has been filed by the Union of India on 13thMay,2021.
Ministry of Defence
Special Campaign 3.0 is currently underway in full swing with saturation approach to achieve the targets of Department of Defence Production, Ministry of Defence
The department, along with its DPSUs  and Attached Offices, has identified 200 cleanliness sites nationwide
Space of 1 Lakh sq.ft. is expected to be freed after disposal of scrap and other waste material
Department of Defence Production has been conducting the Special Campaign 3.0 on Swachhata within the Ministry and across its Defence Public Sector Undertakings  and Attached offices located in various parts of the country aggressively with saturation approach. It started with a preparative phase from 15th September, 2023 to 30th September, 2023 to identify targets to be taken up for cleaning during the campaign period.
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The main campaign started from 2nd October, 2023 and will last upto 31st October, 2023. During the campaign special focus is being given to achieve space enhancement of workplace in offices. Beginning of the preparatory phase of the Special Campaign, Department of Defence along with its DPSUs and Attached Offices identified 200  cleanliness sites across the country. During the preparatory phase of Special Campaign 3.0, Secretary  has taken a review meeting and directed all the senior officers of the Department to put their best efforts to achieve the target during the campaign period. Subsequently a meeting was also convened by Addl. Secretary along with CMDs of DPSUs and DG level officers of Attached Offices to implement the Special Campaign 3.0 in a befitting manner. The daily progress is being monitored at Joint Secretary level officers and a dedicated team of officials upload the achievement on SCDP portal hosted by Department of Administrative Reforms & Public Grievances . All the DPSUs and Attached Offices are enthusiastically participating in the campaign.
 by the DPSUs & DDP avoiding any sensitive/ secret information tagging to #SpecialCampaign 3.0. to create awareness of the campaign. The campaign is in full swing to achieve the target set by DDP.
Ministry of Finance
Economic growth remains High on the Agenda of the Government; To boost the Economic Growth further, the Government has announced various measures in the Budget 2019-20
As per the estimates available from National Statistical Office, the growth of Gross Domestic Product  at constant market prices was 5.8 percent in the fourth quarter  of 2018-19, which is lower than the growth achieved in last five years.
The Economic Survey 2018-19 noted that the base effect arising from a high growth of 8.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017-18 and contraction in ‘Agriculture & allied’ sector, growth moderation in Industry sector and stress in non-banking financial companies contributed to this lower growth in fourth quarter of 2018-19.
Economic growth remains high on the agenda of the Government.To boost the economic growth further,Government has announced various measures in the Budget 2019-20; which, inter alia, include, further liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment policy, increasing the annual turnover limit from Rs.250 crore to Rs. 400 crore for a lower corporate tax rate of 25 percent, additional income tax deduction of Rs.1.5 lakh on the interest paid on loans taken to purchase electric vehicles and moving the GST council for reduction of GST rate on electric vehicles from 12 percent to 5 percent. Government has also increased the scope of voluntary pension scheme for retail tradersand shopkeepers with anannual turnover of less than Rs 1.5 crore. The budget provides a push to infrastructure development with the intention to invest Rs 100 lakh crore in infrastructure over the next five years and by restructuring of National Highway Programme. Scheme of Fund for Upgradation and Regeneration of Traditional Industries  has been started to facilitate cluster based development to make the traditional industries more productive, profitable and capable for generating sustained employment opportunities. Customs duty on certain raw materials and capital goods has been reduced to promote domestic manufacturing. Earlier, Government had expandedthe cash transfer scheme “PM-Kisan” providing an income support of Rs.6000 per year to all farmers, which was limited to farmers with a land holding of less than 2 hectares.Further to give focused attention to issues of growth, the Government has constituted a five-member cabinet committee on investment and growth chaired by Hon’ble Prime Minister.
This was stated by Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.
President's Secretariat
President's Greetings on the Eve of Birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji
The President of India, Shri Ram Nath Kovind has greeted fellow-citizens on the eve of birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.
In a message, the President has said, “On the auspicious occasion of the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, I extend my warm greetings to all Indians especially of the Sikh community, settled in India and abroad.
The implicit message of love, compassion and sacrifice in the life and teachings of Guru Nanak Dev promotes spiritual progress of humankind. His thoughts encourage us to emulate the ideals of peace and brotherhood in our lives. Guru Nanak Dev while leading the life of a simple householder emphasized upon service as a means to attain ‘Ek Omkar Satnam, Karta Purakh’.
Let us all follow the foot-steps of Guru Nanak Dev Ji and strengthen the spirit of harmony and unity in our society”.
Please click here to see the president's Message in Hindi.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
NHAI starts accepting electronic bank guarantees
To further improve efficiency and transparency of internal processes and take forward the adoption of digital technology, NHAI has started accepting Electronic Bank Guarantees  and has also digitalized all its existing Bank Guarantees. NHAI is utilizing the E-BG services of National e-Governance Services Limited , which facilitates reduction in physical paper movement, elimination of physical storage needs and easy access for Bank Guarantee life cycle events like invocation, renewal and closure. Few E-BGs have already been issued by the Banks in favour of NHAI.
Smt. Alka Upadhyaya, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways & Chairperson, NHAI said, “Keeping in view the advantages of E-BGs, we encourage the concessionaires to adopt E-BGs. This is in line with the spirit of ‘Digital India’. E-BGs promote transparency, brings in several efficiencies and provide ease of doing business to our stakeholders.”
Bank Guarantee  is a commercial instrument used as a legal contract in which a bank acts as a guarantor and undertakes an obligation to pay the beneficiary a certain amount of money specified in the guarantee if the debtor from the original contract does not fulfill his contractual obligations. Organizations like NHAI require BG, generally for faithful fulfillment of contractual obligations. The physical form of the BG presents challenges like time consuming verification process and possibility of frauds. However, NHAI has been dealing with BG related issued and challenges effectively and efficiently through its internal processing mechanism.
Ministry of Science & Technology
New low-cost novel coronavirus test developed
The Indian Council of Medical Research  has recommended only reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction  test for novel coronavirus testing. Researchers at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology  have developed a new low-cost and low-tech required test for SARS-CoV-2 testing. This test is known as reverse transcription nested PCR  test.
This test does not require real-time quantitative RT-qPCR. The RT-nPCR developed by the CCMB research team has shown comparable performance to the standard RT-qPCR test. The nested PCR  approach does not depend on RT-qPCR but uses standard RT-PCR as part of an endpoint assay.
In the course of comparing the results of both tests, researchers found that the standard RT-qPCR test can have low detection efficiency  in a real testing scenario, which may be due to low viral representation in many samples. This finding brought home the importance of monitoring detection efficiency directly in test environments.
“We developed and tested an RT-nPCR protocol comprising a multiplex primary RT-PCR for amplification of four SARS-CoV-2 amplicons and a control human amplicon followed by a secondary nested PCR for individual amplicons. We also examined the use of RT-nPCR in pooled testing and in direct amplification without RNA isolation,” said Dr Rakesh Mishra, Director, CCMB, while speaking with India Science Wire.
The RNA isolated from nasopharyngeal swab samples that had been previously tested using one of the two RT-qPCR tests was examined using RT-nPCR and the results were compared. It was found that taking both standard RT-qPCR tests together, the RT-nPCR test was able to identify 90% of the detected samples as positive by RT-qPCR. It also detected 13% samples as positive among samples that were negative by the standard RT-qPCR test . Based on the experimentally measured false negative rate by RT-nPCR tests from this study, it was estimated that as many as 50% of positive samples may escape detection in single pass testing by RT-qPCR in an actual testing scenario.
“This new test is awaiting approval from ICMR. We might ask ICMR to use this test in those places where there are no RT-qPCR machines,” remarked Dr Mishra.
Ministry of Agriculture &
Farmers Welfare
To connect with Direct Benefit Transfer , an online portal “ENSURE” has been launched
The portal will provide a very simple, useful and transparent system to the beneficiary
Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched a portal ENSURE- National Livestock Mission-EDEG developed by NABARD and operated under the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries today. On this occasion, he informed that the National Livestock Mission has been conceived by Modi government for the sustainable development of the livestock sector. Under the Mission’s component called Entrepreneurship Development and Employment Generation , subsidy payment for activities related to poultry, small ruminants, pigs etc. through Direct Benefit Transfer  goes directly to the beneficiary’s account. In order to make it better, simpler and transparent, the NABARD has developed an online portal “ENSURE”  so that the information related to beneficiary and processing of application can be made readily available.
Shri Singh added that under the new process, controlling officer/branch manager of the bank, after scrutinizing & sanctioning of proposal, uploads the subsidy claims in the portal. The subsidy will be approved within 30 days from the date of sanction of loan. Earlier, even after the loan approval, subsidy took a long time to reach the beneficiary’s account. Through this process, the flow of information/funds will also be quicker and more accountable. The burden of extra interest due to delay in the disbursal of the subsidy would now be reduced after the launch of the portal. Access from the portal will also be on real-time basis and list of beneficiaries can be easily prepared.
Ministry of Micro,Small & Medium Enterprises
Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma emphasizes on execution of Special Campaign 2.0 with full fervor
Shri Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma, Minister of State for MSME on 17.10.2022 visited Common Facility Center for Foundry Cluster, Ahmedabad established with the financial assistance of Ministry of MSME under Micro and Small Enterprises, Cluster Development Programme.
Shri Verma also met with representatives of Indian Institute of Foundrymen, Ahmedabad chapter and foundry cluster. He visited MSME-DFO, Ahmedabad office, and inaugurated activities under Special Campaign 2.0. He interacted with the office bearers of Gujarat Chamber of Commerce & Industries, Gujarat Small Scale Industries Federation , Gujarat Electronics and Software Industries Association , and shared various initiatives being taken for the development of MSME Sector by Government and emphasized on execution of Special Campaign 2.0 with full fervor.
Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Union Health Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya chairs High Level Meeting to review status of COVID-19 in the country
Directs officials to focus on effective implementation of Surveillance Strategy and Strengthening Genome Sequencing for early detection of variants
Urges for accelerating COVID-19 Precaution dose of Eligible Population on Mission Mode
Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Mansukh Mandaviya today chaired a meeting with public health experts and officials to review the COVID19 pandemic situation in the country, status of vaccination drive and the Global scenario of new variants of Covid-19.Dr. V K Paul, Member  NITI Aayog was also present during the meeting.
Shri Lav Agarwal, AS  made a detailed presentation on global scenario of surge in COVID cases, primarily in Europe and an analysis of various Omicron Variants in the world. The presentation included a detailed analysis of COVID19 situation in the country with trend of Covid-19 cases; daily cases being reported, active cases, case positivity and testing status along with state-wise weekly tests per million including share of RT-PCR in tests conducted.
Dr. Manohar Agnani, AS gave a presentation on the current status of vaccination in the country, availability of vaccines, state-wise analysis of vaccine administration and highlighted the slow pace of administration of precautionary dose in the country.
Union Health Minister stressed on the need to undertake adequate testing  & effective Covid-19 surveillance to assess and control the spread of infection in a timely manner. Dr. Mandaviya directed the officials to continue to focus on surveillance across the country, particularly through sentinel sites including monitoring of SARI & ILI cases and on Whole Genome Sequencing  to scan for any possible mutation in the wake of identification of Omicron variants in other countries. He also urged officials to closely monitor hospitalizations due to COVID19. He exhorted to increase pace of vaccination including precautionary dose to the eligible beneficiaries.
With the emergence of new Omicron variants, many countries are witnessing a steep rise in cases. Union Health Minister stressed on monitoring the points of entries. He also highlighted the need for community awareness for continued implementation of the Covid Appropriate Behaviour  especially in view of the upcoming festival season.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Ajay Kumar Sood, Principal Scientific Advisor to the Govt, Smt. S Aparna, Secretary , Dr Rajiv Bahl, DG ICMR; along with other senior officials of the Health Ministry.